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May 16, 2013

Arizona Wilderness Brewing....coming VERY soon!

*** YET ONE MORE UPDATE***
Grand Opening, SEPTEMBER 2nd!!!!!!!***ANOTHER UPDATE***
According to their Facebook page (like it here...). They have set a date for an opening!!! They have yet to announce it, but believe, as soon as I know something, I will pass it along!***UPDATE***

For those of you looking for recent news on the opening of Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. They look to be shooting for a late July opening. Looks like one more major hurdle to jump (gas line inspection) and they will be able to start brewing.
For more info, Mouth by Southwest just did an update on them, you can check that out here....

OK, I may be beating a dead horse here I know, I keep talking about how the Arizona beer community seems to be growing and improving all the time. It seems a new brewery, or beer bar opens almost every month or so. Well, soon, we will have one more opening, right here in my lovely little town of Gilbert!!

Again, there have been a lot of brewery's opened in the last year here in the valley, but I have to say, I don't recall so much excitement and anticipation over a brewery in that time. I wasn't sure what it was at first, why was this little upstart brewery generating so much chatter and excitement, while others seem to just pop up with little fan fare surrounding them. Well, after meeting Jon (their Yeast Therapist) and Brett (aka Papa Brett) (and a little later, Patrick, aka "The Beardmaster") it is very easy to see why everyone seems to be so excited for them to open, and this is without ever having had a drop of their beer (yet)! These guys are excited, and passionate about their craft, and I bet

Barrels!!!

Barrels, in the dining area

they will get you excited about it as well. They are already planning on doing a lot of things we don't see a lot of here, if at all, in Arizona. Jon was throwing around words like sours, barrel aged, Belgians, and a few others that got my attention. You get the impression that this isn't just a few guys that just decided to start a brewery one day, because its not. These guys have done their homework, and seem to be going about it in all the right ways (not that they haven't had a few road blocks along the way, anyone that follows their blog will know otherwise).

Growlers!

Hoping for a mid to late June start, it will be a "very soft opening" as Jon put it. Starting off with just beer, and maybe some limited kitchen offerings, working up to a full menu, and maybe even some additional bar offerings down the road a bit, as well as a pretty decent size patio area, which, seeing as they are opening in June, are not in a real hurry to get it ready just yet (if you've ever tried to sit out on a patio, in Arizona, in July, you would understand why).

The decor is, from what I could see, sort of a rustic, industrial. Dark hard woods, with rusted corrugated

The front door is just out of frame, to the right.

roofing make up the bar (complete with purse hooks ladies!). I really love the fact that the fermenting tanks are opened to the dining area, not in a fish bowl like just about every other place. Set just to the right of the main doors, just a little pony wall separates the tanks from you as you walk in, something I've never seen before, but really like! Also, there is a "window" (about to be) cut in behind the bar to reveal the serving tanks. Another touch I really like, they plan on keeping the aging barrels in one corner of the dining area, along with some bags of grains as well, thus adding to the sort of rustic, industrial, yet very comfortable feel to the place.

The Brew House, in the back, behind the kitchen

The dining room is washed in natural lighting as well. As three of the four walls in the dining area are pretty much all glass. Jon even made mention of wishing he hadn't spend so much on lighting after seeing the natural light of the dining room. Natural green and a sort of rusty orange color paint covers the walls, as will some Arizona photography come opening time, and a few artistic accents are found as well.

Serving tanks, behind the bar

I have been looking forward to their opening for some
time now, but like I said, since meeting them, I am really excited for it! Not just excited for them to open, I am excited for them, period. These guys are friendly, welcoming, very casual and relaxed, yet passionate about what they are undertaking, and I can't wait for them to be able to share that passion with all of us. If you get a chance, stop by, and take a look inside. I will let you all know when they annouce an opening date, so we can all head down there, and share a few pints!

Thanks again to Jon Buford, Brett Dettler, and Patrick Ware, for their time and hospitality, I look forward to having a pint with you guys very soon! Best of luck to you, cheers!

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

Arizona Wilderness Brewing is located on
721 N Arizona Ave, Gilbert, AZ
that is on the south East Corner of Arizona and Guadalupe Rd, behind the Bruegger's Beagles.